School starting age in Australia

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Hi
We're moving to Sydney in January. My DTs will turn 5 during June 2015 - do they get to start school during this school year, or do they need to wait until Jan 2016? Sorry, I can't work it out from the websites I've visited .
TIA

I am not sure about NSW, but in SA he would start in June... Sorry I couldn't be more helpful :)

I think it's 4.5 to start kindy/prep (not sure what it's called, I'm in Qld) and must have started by age 6.

Yes, they can start school. Taken from the schools.nsw.edu.au site:

Starting Kindergarten
Your child can start Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they turn five on or before 31 July in that year. By law, all children must be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday. Because students start new work in their new class at the beginning of the school year, it would be an advantage for your child both socially and educationally, to start school as soon as possible in the new year.

Hope that helps. More info on that site if you have other queries regarding the school you have chosen.

Forgot to say that "kindergarten" is the name for the first year of school in NSW. I think the equivalent of Reception in UK.

Wonderful, thanks everyone. Much appreciated. Thanks for the website too.

Just had to reply to say the same as Cornedbeefpie and also to say hello as it looks as though we are in the same boat! We are looking to move to sydney in January as well for 2yrs with a 4yr old and 6 yr old! How is all your planning going? I'm not entirely sure I have everything in hand!!

Just to mention that although the above info about starting school in NSW is correct we have found in practice that many children are deferred until they are closer to 6.

So for example a child with a June birthday is allowed to start at 4yrs 7 months or can choose to wait a year and start at 5 yrs 7 months and still be enrolled well before turning 6. A child with a June birthday would be the youngest by several months in their year at our local school and would be in a class with several children at least a year older than them.

It may differ depending on the school/area but it is definitely something to think about. Of course if you are planning to go back to the UK eventually you will probably want them to start earlier so as to keep more in step with the year they would return to. Hope that makes sense!

I'm really happy that they can start school this coming Jan. They've started their first term in reception in the UK and I was worried about them having to go back into preschool/alternative childcare. They are amongst the youngest in their class here, and they seem to be holding their own (helps when they have each other!).

Hi MrsDe, I'm 'watching' your thread!! I'm not organised at all, seem to have adopted somewhat of a scattergun approach. Will be looking at some of the areas posters have suggested on your thread. Dh goes out in 4 weeks so we are frantically trying to get through the major sorting at this end - dh on second run to the recycle centre today as we slowly empty the loft...

SticksOutLikeDogsBalls they don't do an mid year intake anymore, so now in SA he would start in Jan 2015 & go into Kindy, 4 terms of Kindy & then Jan 2016 into reception.

It all changed this year!